Monday, 27 January 2014

The Wolf Of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorsese, was based on the memoir of Jordan Belfort, a former stockbroker convicted of fraud. It was written by Terence Winter, the creator of Boardwalk Empire (which Scorsese has also directed). The script was intentionally modelled on the style of Scorsese's GoodFellas, and The Wolf's voice-over narration and direct-to-camera monologues are familiar devices from that earlier film.

Leonardo DiCaprio (in another totally unsympathetic role, following Django Unchained) gives a tour-de-force performance, though his character is so OTT that the three-hour running time is exhausting: the entire film feels like the hyperactive final reels of GoodFellas. This is Scorsese and DiCaprio's fifth collaboration, following Gangs Of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, and Shutter Island. It's one of Scorsese's most explicit and excessive films, with even more drugs and profanity than The Departed; like Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, its sex scenes were edited to avoid an 'NC-17' rating.